Jobless figure in Britain shows a slight reduction

The number of unemployed in Britain has dropped for the first time in 17 months, according to official statistics published Tuesday, but the long-term forecast is that it will go on increasing.

The total of unemployed was expected to top 3 million this month, but instead registered its first fall since May of 1980. The number without jobs in mid-October was a hair under 3 million, or 12.4 percent of the work force, the Department of Employment said. It was a drop of 10,000 from mid-September.